The Roosters are worthy, and magnificent, premiers. They conceded three tries in the finals series. Enough said. Defence wins premierships and they defended like champions.

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But the club is now in a delicate position. Brilliantly led by benefactor Nick Politis and coach Trent Robinson, fans of rival clubs view them suspiciously. How can they accumulate such talent? How do they work their salary cap? Why do they get all the luck?

The fact is, they accumulate their playing list via the strength and skill of said management. Success starts in the front office.

The Roosters were the best team of the 2010-19 decade, but no one wanted them to win the 2019 premiership the way they did, when their only two tries in the grand final came via two enormous strokes of luck.

The Roosters lift the NRL trophy for the second time in as many years.Credit:Getty Images

The “six to go” call late in the game was devastating for the Raiders. The Roosters pounced on the confusion and scored the winning try four tackles later.

Equally devastating was the disaster in the third minute when the Raiders charged down a Luke Keary kick, only for the ball to hit Roosters trainer Travis Touma. What on earth was Touma doing on the field in the third minute?

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Trainers are able to do only three things: convey a message to a player, give water to a player, or attend to an injured player. Once that task is completed, they are to leave the field immediately. But trainers stay on the field as a “14th man” for whole sets of six.

Touma ran on after James Tedesco fielded a kick at the 1 minute, 55 second mark and was struck 45 seconds later. He sat in the pocket behind the dummy half for all five tackles. The charged-down kick hit him because he was directing play right behind the play-the-ball. It’s a stain on the game that trainers are out there so much.

Rugby League is a fatigue sport and players are challenged to make decisions under pressure. Instead, trainers are directing traffic, allowing weary players to respond to tasks set by a non-weary trainer.

Had the ball not hit Touma, the Raiders would, at the very least, have been in an attacking position well inside the Roosters’ half. At best, the way Elliott Whitehead was charging after the ball, they may have scored.

Roosters trainer Travis Touma saw the funny side after being hit with the ball in the NRL grand final. Raiders fans didn't.

Instead, because the incident happened inside the Raiders’ half, the Roosters were gifted a repeat set of six, which they turned into another repeat set of six and then, ultimately, the opening try of an encounter decided by one try.

The grand final result has left a trail of destruction: the Raiders and their fans feel the Roosters didn’t win fair and square; the Roosters believe it's unfair their successful premiership defence is being questioned; and the referees have been pilloried and the NRL ridiculed.

The NRL must wear the blame. They have put the poor referees in an impossible position with their relentless pursuit of “perfect” decisions. There’s two referees, two touch judges, referees in the stands and the bunker. They are wired for sound and directions are coming from everywhere.

The evidence of their paralysis can be heard in the referees' audio. When Ben Cummins made the "six more" call that will go down in grand final history, he says “six to go” and waves his arm accordingly. The next words spoken are: “Is it?” A short delay is followed by “fifth and last”.

The NRL has also sat on its hands while trainers impact on the play. Surely that will change?

The challenge for the Roosters now is to avoid becoming the new Manly: the most hated team in the competition. I fear they are already there.

On a night of regrets, the referees would like to have that moment again and the Raiders would like to have the 10-minute period back when they couldn’t score while Cooper Cronk was in the sin bin.

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Robinson would probably like to have his exchange with Johnathan Thurston back, too.

Thurston, a legend whose team, the Cowboys, were beaten by bad refereeing calls twice in the finals, rightly and politely asked Robinson’s thoughts on the six to go call. Robinson bristled and didn’t cover himself in glory on live TV.

The Roosters have gone about things their way and who could argue when they have won three of the past seven premierships under Robinson?

But the club needs to let the light in; to open itself up better to fans and the game.

The Ken Stephen Medal for community service has been awarded since 1988. This year it was taken out by Canberra's Sio Soliola. In those 32 years, no Roosters player has won it. In that time they have played in eight grand finals and won four.

To get the respect they deserve, the Roosters must play their part in healing the wounds exposed in a finale that left fans, who had invested seven months of emotion and money in the competition, feeling lost.

Is Matt Toomua Australia's best No.10? Not even Michael Cheika knows.Credit:Getty

Selection half the battle for Cheika

The best thing about the Rugby World Cup is it will end the reign of Michael Cheika as Wallabies coach.

How we have arrived in Japan, after four years of planning, with absolutely no idea who Australia's first-choice halves are is beyond belief.

Will Genia and Bernard Foley were our halves for most of that four years. But this year they were jettisoned for Nic White and Christian Lealiifano and that combination played in the opening World Cup encounter against Fiji. But an average first half saw them replaced by Genia and Matt Toomua, who guided Australia to victory over the tiring Fijians in the second half.

Then Genia and Foley took control of the Wallabies against Wales, only for them to play poorly and be replaced by White and Toomua. White and Lealiifano were the halves for the romp against Uruguay, but against Georgia it was White and Toomua.

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You can’t make this stuff up.

No wonder we are having our worst year in half a century.

The constant changing of players in all positions under Cheika, particularly in the backs, has led to a loss of identity for the Wallabies with fans. They have no idea who they’ll be cheering for on a week-to-week basis. The confusion is backed up by the results.